US Brig Niagara by mikiek - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - First wooden ship build

[cobra1951]

Cobwebs! not sure, i think he has a spider doing his rigging

The homemade preventers look great Mike

[mikiek]

Hey Don - you are right about the deadeyes. I just left them mounted,that's it. It was almost 1:30AM about then.

 

They do need to be rotated in the wire strop to get the holes in the proper position. They are also not yet  facing out from the tops and channels. With this technique (modified from Sicard's site), you leave them as shown until you hook whatever needs to go into them. Then you twist the deadeye so that it is facing outwards and the wire ends up under (and stuck into) the top.

 

That description was probably clear as mud. I'll post some pix when I get down to actually doing it. The thing I liked about this technique is you can strop and mount a deadeye in under a minute. No soldering involved and they seem very sturdy.

[mikiek]

Maybe the third time will do it. While the 2nd try at chain plates was better than the first, I finally decided it was too bulky for 1:64. So I've decided to run with the rest of the flock and make all the parts from wire. For the most part I have followed the practicum for Syren - Chapter 18 which can be downloaded from Model Expo.

Two similar jigs, just a couple of nails in a board. One with outer nail edges spaced 1/4", the other spaced 7/32". All the parts follow the same basic routine but each has it's own twist as well. For the larger chain plate assembly there are 4 pieces - wire stropped dead eye, a middle, toe and preventer link. Each starts as a wire looped tightly around the jig nails. The middle and preventer link use the 1/4 spacing, the toe link is from the 7/32.

 

 

For the middle link, remove it from the nails, snip the wire on the side where the wire overlaps and you"re done.

 

For the toe link, using round tipped long nose pliers squeeze the wire together just inside on of the nails. You should end up with a small loop and a slightly larger loop. Remove from nails and snip the wire ends. BE CAREFULL to snip the right wires, it's a little tangled

 

 

It should end up like this

 

 

For the preventer, wrap a loop around the nails, remove and snip. Then put the loop back on the nails and squeeze both ends, just inside the nail.

 

Here's a set

 

 

A tip here - when a link is finished, give it a squeeze with some parallel jaw pliers. This will flatten the piece out and give it a nice finished look.

 

I posted about the dead eyes previously. At this point bend the wire on the underside of the channel

 

 

The middle and toe link are easily joined - no soldering, remember? Then drop one of those over the bent up wire

 

 

Snip the wire end right at the underside of the channel

 

 

Get an idea of the angle the chainplates will lay by extending a line from the mast top downwards.

 

 

Twist the deadeye so it faces outward and squeeze the wire under the channel

 

 

Drill a hole (first of two)

 

 

I used some nails from the kit to pin the chainplates to the hull. Insert a nail thru the upper loop in the preventer and lower loop of the toe. Drill another hole below that and put a nail thru the lower preventer loop.

 

 

You may have some concerns regarding the unsoldered pieces - no solder anywhere. It turns out that the deadeye is taking all the upward stress and it's wire on the underside of the channel holds it in place nicely. The chainplates will not be stressed at all.

 

So I was going along with this and then it hit me.You may have seen some white spots on the hull in a few of the pix. This was some splatter - from where I'll never know. But, I always knew I was going to have to repaint the hull. Besides I never cleaned it up after the rudder install. Well the more hardware I mount on the side the tougher it will be to apply masking tape. So attempting to paint the hull was never going to get any easier. I ended up taking a break and painting tonite. It came out pretty good.

 

Back to the chainplates again........

 

 

[mikiek]

Channels and chain plates have been done for a few days, but I finally took the camera out this evening. So here's a few pix. I'm pleased with how they came out - good scale and very sturdy. Again the process I used is a combination of Hubert Picard's and Model Shipways Syrene practicum.

 

 

 

 

Bad part is I found more deck items that I overlooked. Fore pin rail, boarding ladders, belfry, ships boats, rudder chain. I think I am going to go with 2 of the 3 ships boats. I built the yawl months ago. The cutter was started a while back, but I just finished planking it and hollowing it out. Now I need to dress up the inside. One will be hung from the rear davits (I will not be making the side davits) and the other will sit over the grate of the main hatch.

 

I am also still debating whether to add the hammock rails. Not sure whether they would have been used on the original. Seems like a dumb place to put them when you know they are going to get all shot up.

 

[jbshan]

The hammock rails were there precisely to get all shot up.  They provided a relatively impermeable screen against small arms fire for the crew on deck, although in this case the crew probably slept either on pallets on deck, or perhaps just wrapped up in blankets, or below, in the hold on whatever they could find.  While there was a 'saloon', it probably didn't extend the full length to provide a sleeping compartment for the crew.

[mikiek]

Interesting! Thanks for that Joel. I will change course and make the rails. I do wonder about the best time to install them - before or after the shrouds.

[Mike40]

Great work Mike. I hope my first model ship comes out as good as yours. I think perseverance is 9/10 of success. Looking forward to following you to the finish line.

[mikiek]

Hey Mike - thanks for checking in. You are right about perseverance.  This exercise has been a real test of character.

 

I see you are building a galley. How cool! And from scratch!  I have a galley kit on the shelf that I have been tempted to open. That's when my perseverance goes out the window.  Kits are fun to start, but it is harder to finish them.

[donrobinson]

Nice work on the chainplates Mike, she all looks ship shape

[mikiek]

Thank you Don. She's needing a good cleanup. Or in our case maybe a blowdown with a compressor.

[mikiek]

I forgot to mention, on the channels in addition to the deadeyes there is a small bullseye. I believe it gets one of the backstays.  Much as I wanted to machine some wood like Darrell did, I do realize my limitations. So I used styrene tubing instead. Just inside the tube edge I was able to cut/file a groove and then just slice it off. Paint it like the deadeyes and who would know?

[jbshan]

I have pieces of WD40 spray tube masquerading as turnbuckles.  Whatever makes it float, eh?

Edited November 14, 2016 by jbshan

[mikiek]

That's a great idea for an even smaller diameter.

[jbshan]

I just edited, that should read 'WD40'.

I slipped short lengths of the tubing over the bottom of some shrouds and colored them black.

[mikiek]

Your secret is safe.  Styrene - sheets, tubes and bars - have saved me on more than one occasion.

 

I wish my wood working skills were better. Sad but true, I have a good lathe and mill. But I learn best by watching someone and there ain't no one in the neighborhood.

 

I do get tickled with your WD40 idea - sounds like me. Any odd piece of anything I find, i usually toss it in a bin. You just never know.

[Elijah]

Nice Job! Your boat is looking very good! The thing that is different about Syren's dead eyes is that they have a groove that the rope fits in that makes it slide better, as do real dead eyes have.

[mikiek]

Elijah - are you using the Syren deadeyes? If so, my hat is off to you. I glued them together then put them in a tumbler and about half of them broke. Most of the remaining ones needed to be drilled out as the glue had plugged up the wholes.

 

The ones in the kit are not too bad, I just hope there is enough

[mikiek]

Not a lot of progress lately. I have been working on 2 other projects. Both RC models. One is finished (took it out today) it was pretty much ready to run out of the box. The other is a kit and will take some time. Interestingly, I am having to deck this one  and it is quite similar to what we do. The big difference is the strips are a veneer rather than what we know as planks. I have found that my build experience and tools have been a big help. The designer is very big into using marine epoxy to glue everything. The instructions and video are quite detailed in the usage so that's a valuable bit of knowledge to pick up.

 

Really I think I am procrastinating. Putting off the rigging that I know is coming.

 

Here's a few pix of my distractions:

 

This guy is quite manuverable!

 

 

Hull is 37" and it will stand about 5' tall with mast.

 

 

Niagara takes it out with a broadside.

 

[jbshan]

Well, those are 32 pdrs., the same size ball as on Victory's lower deck guns.  Guess not even the strip planking and epoxy stood up well to the proof test on the guns.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Those boats are really neat.  You really are a true multi-tasker.

[mikiek]

Thank you Darrell - it's too bad we can't get our builds to float. Might be an incentive to add sails. The company that makes my kit does have one they call a schooner. Not sure if they terminology is correct but it is interesting.

[mikiek]

The new boatyard. It even makes Niagara look a little small. The HobbyZone setup is well made. Took about a day to assemble it all. Now I can't find anything 

 

 

 

 

Was trying to get started with rigging some shrouds - just something to get motivated. I ended up noticing that the mast tops were still needing quite a few blocks. Better to do that now while I can still take the spars out. It didn't help my attitude though - 2 hours to strop 8 blocks

 

 

[cobra1951]

That HobbyZone stuff is quite good stuff for the price of it. I have few of their things myself

[mikiek]

You're right Bob. It is very well made. There were no bad cuts, all the pieces fit exactly as described. The first 2 modules I pieced together in a dry run first, expecting to have to make 'adjustments'. Those went together nicely and after that I had enough confidence to start right in with the glue.

 

After working with it for a few days, my only regret is I should have bought less 3 drawer modules and more 2 drawer. The usable height of the 3 drawer is slightly over an inch. There were a number of tools that would not fit in those.

 

And I really wasn't joking, at the moment I am lost trying to find anything. Probably several reorgs over the next few weeks.

[Julie Mo]

Mike, I'm coming over to your house to play in your boatyard!   

[cobra1951]

You're right Bob. It is very well made. There were no bad cuts, all the pieces fit exactly as described. The first 2 modules I pieced together in a dry run first, expecting to have to make 'adjustments'. Those went together nicely and after that I had enough confidence to start right in with the glue.

 

After working with it for a few days, my only regret is I should have bought less 3 drawer modules and more 2 drawer. The usable height of the 3 drawer is slightly over an inch. There were a number of tools that would not fit in those.

 

And I really wasn't joking, at the moment I am lost trying to find anything. Probably several reorgs over the next few wee

 

You will only be able to find stuff when it's in one big heap on your desk

Once you put it away neatly the fairies come out and hide it all

It's the law

[mikiek]

Julie - I'd be embarrassed to show a picture of it today. Already a mess. The nice thing was that I worked on 3 different builds today - 2 at the same time -  and was able to just move things down or move myself between builds.

 

Bob - the heap is growing already

[Canute]

Mike, I have the same problem. We must learn to label everything.

[jbshan]

Mike, I had a chest of drawers at work that I decided needed labels.  I got some 'decorator' tape, electrical tape in colors, and wrote labels on the tape.  Red was for fractional, yellow was for metric, white for universal, then 'sockets, 1/4", 3/8", 1/2"', pliers, or "wrenches" on red, "wrenches" on yellow, you get the picture.  If something didn't work out, the tape could be changed.  In your case, if the drawer fronts are paper, you could write on the paper, then cover up with the tape and write the new designation.  I highly recommend labeling, there are too many drawers there not to have some sort of storage system.

[mikiek]

I like the label idea Joel. I just didn't want to write on the drawers. They're faced with vinyl so even something like a mailing label would do. Maybe your color coding as well.

 

At the moment I am trying to identify the stuff I use everyday vs once a week or once a month. That's what I want to get within reach. Sadly I'm already seeing that I probably will not be able to completely eliminate the big tackle boxes that I used before.